 The United Way of Bemidji is celebrating another year of surpassing their annual fundraising goals. Reporter Cheryl Moore takes us to their annual dinner. A lot of different organizations have put a lot of work into fundraising over the year and to see that their hard work has paid off when we have met our goal for the community is just an amazing feeling. The United Way of Bemidji has a lot to celebrate. They didn't just meet their fundraising goal, with exactly $465,529 raised, they surpassed it. We allocate funds to 24 different agencies and the people here tonight represent different businesses in town who helped us fundraise. They're a lot of our top donors and people that just really care about Bemidji. Cultures of this year's campaign, Brian and Leah, helped raise a lot of the funds. They got involved because they loved Bemidji and wanted to give back. We're both really involved in the community and we really care about our community. We're both from Bemidji, graduated from Bemidji High School and we both graduated from Bemidji State University. Some of the highlights we had over the past year, in my opinion, were the really fun and fundraising events that we got to attend. We went to a trap shoot, we got to attend the chili feed, we went to the beer and wine tasting event and it raised so much money for the community and it's really fun seeing the community come together and support the United Way. More than 100 people gathered here tonight to help celebrate the United Way of Bemidji's year. This year's campaign was deemed the best of Bemidji because tonight they celebrated nothing but the best. Everybody is super excited to be part of this. We talk about community and what it is to be part of a community and investing in the community and so you see all these people that are here to support that investment. The celebration dinner served as a way to thank donors and highlight individuals who live united every day. With the 2019 campaign kicking off, the United Way of Bemidji says it's important to remember that anyone and everyone can get involved. Our brand credo this year is that together we can do more than any one of us can do our loan. So getting involved in the United Way just means you're becoming a part of a team that is going to help Bemidji thrive. Reporting from Bemidji, Shreya Moore, Lakeland News. If you'd like to learn how you can get involved with the United Way of Bemidji, check out this story on our website at lptv.org. If you enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland PBS.